A Night with the Jailer

I have listened to Asa’s music “Jailer” many times, each time I listened to it I get goose pimples all over my body but I have never been anywhere near jail but the way she intelligently painted the picture and analyzed the relationship between a Jailer and a Prisoner will make you realize that the relationship between the two is most times not convivial. 

Reading Nelson Mandela autobiography “Long Road to Freedom” also gave me a clearer understanding that Jailers anywhere and everywhere are almost the same especially when the SYSTEM is fighting you or vice a visa. Their psychology approach towards prisoners is the same and this treatment transcends culture, colour and languages.

Jailers sometimes lose their civility and most times throw away all their profession ethics, they forget that first and foremost the prisoners are also human beings. I’m sure you are wondering “wetin concern agbero with overload- what concerns her with jail matter”. The late Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), late Fela Anikulapo Kuti and most of the activists jailed during the Abacha’s era all saw the very bad side of these errand men whom Fela (Baba 70) referred to as Zombies because even when they know the truth and their conscience is not settle about the treatments they melted on the prisoners they can’t definitely go against their bosses who most time dictate the tunes of their operandi from their Palais de chef.

 

I love my job with every blood in my system, meeting the stars which people pay a lot of money to watch.  My job has given me the opportunity to see them not only as stars but to see them at the early stage of their career, trust me this is a fantastic feeling.

One of the major points of my career is when the local stars start blooming into an international acts and the one on one friendship you share with many of them. Meeting the big act like Chief Sunny Ade which I’ve known as a young girl for many years as a guru in the music industry is historic, the day I personally met him and later having to sit with him for a meeting is a great moment for me.

 

The day I finally met Beautiful Nubia, the man that I adore his music rendition and his rhythms and rhyme prowess is magnificent. It’s a delight to watch him perform any day anytime, relating with him on a profession level, having the complementary copies of his works every time them, the friendship that ensued after our meeting and the VIP treatment I get at his show is usually terrific,( I’m sure you are green with admiration for my career now……lol), don’t worry I could get you some tickets so that we could get to see his shows together someday, I would definitely sure work on this,  it’s a promise.

 

 

Travelling to major cities and villages across Nigeria scouting for music stars is one of the many blessings of my job; eating different delicacies of these special people are rear privileges which money can’t buy. The beauty of Nigeria’s landscape is breathtaking that any tourist will pay many millions of naira to see, these are the perks of the job I have come to love passionately.

But after seven years sojourn on this job, nobody told me that the hazard of the job will be man-made which will be caused by a set of lawlessness officers of the regulatory body which is meant to oversee the operation of my organization. On early morning of Tuesday I resumed to work like any other days and ready to commence work in high spirit as I have listed my work schedule for the day.

 As I started to tick one after the other my itinerary and ready to set out for my management meeting, about 20 stern looking men including police officers came in and demanded to see my boss, unfortunately he was not in the office and told them so but the man that led the team which I later learnt was Mr. Matthew Ojo told me that some of our officers would have to come along with them to their office for questioning and chat. Oh, I guess my very sharp mouth put me in trouble with them ‘cos I asked them for their warrant of arrest, which of cause they couldn’t provide except for the Identification card they showed us (That may be the new warrant of arrest  method in Naija now). They arrested five of us.

Lo and behold, we were in their office, they did not tell us one thing that we have done that has brought about the arrest, they seized all our phones. As the day was winding up, we discovered that they did not have the intention of releasing us that day, we asked if we could see our lawyer but they declined. After being adamant on our request to see our lawyers they allowed our lawyers in and we wrote our statements. That was the beginning of our journey to meet the jailer.

We were transferred from their office at about 9.45pm to an unknown destination, this place looked like police stations because I saw plain cloth officer carrying guns. The man that led the team that drove us to the unknown destination exchanged pleasantries with the man that was in charge of the facility and spoke briefly in Hausa language.

All of us have not had any healthy meal since morning except for me that was on diet plan, one of my colleague asked if they could get us something to eat, the leader of the team responded and asked where we expected him to get food for us at this time of the day that he was very sorry because he could only help with water, and true to his word he gave us one bottle of water each though I rejected mine but he pleaded that I should take it because I might need it. On a second thought I took the water from him.

 The team leader told his friends that he’ll come to take us the following day, he left us at the mercy of the chief security officer (CSO), and the CSO asked that we fill a form where we registered our names, ages, occupation and state of origins. We were asked to submit our personal effects like wrist watches, belts, money, and jewelries. After the submission, he carefully labeled, taped and kept them away.

After this routine, we were asked to queue up. Two fully armed policemen were detailed on each of our sides as we were marched on barefoot to another compound, but I was thinking maybe we were going to sleep in the staff quarter but alas I was dead wrong. We were ordered to a quiet building which I later found out to be a prison cell for drug barons, the CSO read the cell order for us and asked that we should be of good behavior if we wanted to enjoy our stay in our new chamber.

As they put the light in the prison corridor on, the prisoners all woke up; their actions showed that it was the routine if new inmates were to join them. As soon as they saw the CSO they started hailing him from different directions of the cell, “say Baba”, “Baba of bad boys and girls” ,“the husband of prisoners” they called him all sort of names.

He opened the gate and asked us to move in, I was terrified and asked him if we (ladies) were to go in too because the only people I saw there were men, but my question angered the man. He shouted on me and said “do you think you are in your house or office where you’ll enjoy air-condition, fan and watch soap opera, you better enter before I lose my temper”.

As I entered sluggishly with my other colleagues, the prisoners we woke and disturbed their quite sleep started throwing jibes at us, some asked us “how many grams did you carry?”, where did they arrest you?, why are you just being brought in at these time?, some said “people in suit have also jammed the law”, one said, “so butties are also business people”. My fear vanished as the officer open the female cell for my female colleague and I, we met three elderly women, they quietly rose from their sleep and greeted us, they asked what brought us in but were we apparently too tired to talk but we were left alone as one of my male colleagues gave them full account of our predicament.

After they listened to his gist they started pitying us, one said we should sweep the floor because there is no bed to sleep, but we sat a small girls whose mother just eloped with a lover. Mama Onome was fully of pity for us as she told us what brought all of them in. From her discussion she was an Indian hemp seller, how she has spent four months without trail but she was pleasant and so were the other two, she also told us about some male inmates who have spent 10 months without trail.

I noticed that there were all sort of buckets at the other side of the room, I did not waste time in asking my new friends if that was their toilet and they answered in affirmative shocked me. The cell wall was defaced in charcoal and pen with name of past prisoners, their offense and the date of days they each left. Amidst my thought on how my parents, family and friends would be feeling and how worried they would be I slept off on the floor, it was the Muslim morning call to prayer that woke me around 5.00am.

After their prayer, the Christians also took turn to pray, the prayer sessions were overwhelming. At about 8.30am in the morning the warder started opening the gate for the prisoners one after the order to clean up themselves, I also asked if I could ease myself but to my greatest surprise the Jailer told me he would not allow me to go because there was no instruction from above that has authorized him to do so, that if I needed to do anything I should used the bucket provided in the cell.

I raised my voice saying it will not happen while I was alive because I was not a prisoner and I refuse to be treated as such, on self-pity he finally allowed be to use the closet which is not worthy for an animal but are allowed in our prison system.

At about 10.00am breakfast, one small wrap of eba and egusi soup with no meat, was served, I also learnt from my friends that it was the only meal for the day. I was forced to ask how they survive this double hardship but they told me that they buy food from food vendors that sell around the prison with the money given them by their family members who visit once a week.

At about 10.45am my name and those of my colleagues were called and about 25minutes after they brought special packed rice and beans delicacy with one meat and kpomo with one sachet of pure water. Unfortunately, I did not have the appetite to eat the food so I gave it to my friends.

We were called out at about 1.45pm, as they opened the gate for us to back to free world that I have known and I hugged my new found friend in tears as i bid them bid goodbye. Mama Onome specifically asked that I should not forget her in my prayers that she me promise if she ever regain her freedom she would not go back to drug again. Since I left there my prayer are with them, I pray that they will regain their freedom and they will sin no more.

We returned back to the CSO’s office, he returned all our items to us though he wanted to become our friends but I was too engrossed with my freedom that I never notice his friendliness.

I waved the jailer goodbye and returned to the warmth arms of my other colleagues, family and friends who were all worried about our whereabouts and safety; I can’t stop thinking about the condition of the prison and idleness of the prisoners.